U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,985 discloses a roughing machine for operating on a shoe assembly comprised of a last having an insole located on its bottom and an upper mounted thereon with the upper margin lying against and being secured to the periphery of the insole. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,831,405 and 3,854,250 disclose modifications of the machine of Pat. No. 3,843,985.
In this machine, the shoe assembly is supported bottom-up on a shoe assembly support. The machine includes a slide mounted for forward-rearward movement toward and away from the shoe assembly and a first motor connected to the slide to effect this movement. A tool mount is mounted to the slide for heightwise movement and second yieldable motors are connected to the tool mount for effecting this heightwise movement. Mounted to the tool mount are a pair of tines and a sensing member located below the tines. Actuable operating means so connect the sensing member and the first motor as to cause the first motor to move the slide from a rearward idle position wherein the sensing member is spaced from the shoe assembly forwardly until the sensing member engages a particular portion of the side of the shoe assembly and to enable the first motor to retain the sensing member in engagement with successive portions of the side of the shoe assembly with a consequent forward or rearward movement of the tool mount as the successive portions of the side of the shoe assembly move past the sensing member.
Initially the operating means are deactuated so that the first motor retains the slide in its idle position and the second motors are caused to retain the tool mount in an upper position spaced above the shoe assembly. This is followed by a concomitant operation of the second motors to yieldably lower the tool mount so as to bring the tines into engagement with the bottom of the shoe assembly and an actuation of the operating means. After this, the shoe assembly support is so moved as to move successive portions of the shoe assembly past the tool mount thereby moving successive portions of the side of the shoe assembly past the sensing member and thereby moving successive portions of the bottom of the shoe assembly past the tines. During this movement, a roughing tool that is mounted to the tool mount as to be in engagement with successive portions of the upper margin as said successive portions of the shoe assembly move past the tool mount roughs the upper margin.